title: Mindfulness meditation, well-being, and heart rate variability: a preliminary investigation into the impact of intensive Vipassana meditation.
abstract: Mindfulness meditation has beneficial effects on brain and body, yet the impact of Vipassana, a type of mindfulness meditation, on heart rate variability (HRV) - a psychophysiological marker of mental and physical health - is unknown. We hypothesised increases in measures of well-being and HRV, and decreases in ill-being after training in Vipassana compared to before (time effects), during the meditation task compared to resting baseline (task effects), and a time by task interaction with more pronounced differences between tasks after Vipassana training. HRV (5-minute resting baseline vs. 5-minute meditation) was collected from 36 participants before and after they completed a 10-day intensive Vipassana retreat. Changes in three frequency-domain measures of HRV were analysed using 2 (Time; pre- vs. post-Vipassana)× 2 (Task; resting baseline vs. meditation) within subjects ANOVA. These measures were: normalised high-frequency power (HF n.u.), a widely used biomarker of parasympathetic activity; log-transformed high frequency power (ln HF), a measure of RSA and required to interpret normalised HF; and Traube-Hering-Mayer waves (THM), a component of the low frequency spectrum linked to baroreflex outflow. As expected, participants showed significantly increased well-being, and decreased ill-being. ln HF increased overall during meditation compared to resting baseline, while there was a time∗task interaction for THM. Further testing revealed that pre-Vipassana only ln HF increased during meditation (vs. resting baseline), consistent with a change in respiration. Post-Vipassana, the meditation task increased HF n.u. and decreased THM compared to resting baseline, suggesting post-Vipassana task-related changes are characterised by a decrease in absolute LF power, not parasympathetic-mediated increases in HF power. Such baroreflex changes are classically associated with attentional load, and our results are interpreted in light of the concept of 'flow' - a state of positive and full immersion in an activity. These results are also consistent with changes in normalised HRV reported in other meditation studies.
authors.affiliation: SCAN Research & Teaching Unit, School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Australia; School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Krygier
authors.forename: James A J
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Heathers
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shahrestani
authors.forename: Maree
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Andrew H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Kemp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D056152:Respiratory Rate / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Heart rate variability; Meditation; Mindfulness; Respiratory sinus arrhythmia; Traube–Hering–Mayer waves; Vipassana; Well-being